The Black Legion Rides 11

CONTENTS I. THE "TRIGGER MAN" ACTS 3 II. THE HOOD Is LIFTED 5 III. THE BLACK LEGION RIDES 11 IV. THE LEGION'S POLITICAL FRONT 23 V. THE ROOTS OF THE BLACK LEGION 29 VI. THE BLACK LEGIONAND LAW AND ORDER 32 VII. A NATIONAL MENACE 35 VIII. FALSE AMERICANISM-ITS NEW HOOD 38 IX. STAMP OUT THE BLACK LEGION 42 P UBLISHED BY W ORKERS LIBRARY P UBLISHER S, INC . , P. O .BOX 148, STA. D, N EW YORK CITY. A UGUST, 1936. ....201' The Black Legion Rides By GEORGE MORRIS I. THE "TRIGGER MAN" ACTS THE meeting at Findlater Temple broke up. The men quickly formed into squads and rushed into cars for the "night ride". Two of the cars, in advance of the others, reached a dark, lonely spot on Dix Road on the outskirts of Detroit. The other cars were apparently delayed by the opening of the River Rouge bridge. Seven occupants of the cars jumped out and went into a huddle. They spoke in low tones and repeatedly turned to look back on the road to see if other cars were coming. Their special concern was a car with black robes, hoods and rope required for a "necktie party". For that is what it was to be. "Well, I guess they must have got lost", said "Colonel" Harvey Davis, a tall, lanky, rat-faced creature. Then, turning to a short, stocky member of the party, he commanded: "Dean, get Poole out." Dean instantly drew two revolvers and stepped toward one of the cars. "Poole, come out of that car!" he said. A young man emerged and soon found himself In a circle of seven men. "Poole, you have beaten your wife for the last time", said the "Colonel". "She is in a hospital now with a broken rib." "You have me wrong," Poole protested. "I never beat her. She is in a hospital having a baby." The "Colonel" motioned to Dean. Dean promptly pumped five bullets into Poole out of his .45 automatic and three out of his .38. Urban Lee followed with three more shots. Charles Poole, the young P.W.A. worker, without a murmur, sank down, and rolled over into a ditch, stone dead. 3 The men piled into their cars and drove off. In the city they stepped into a beer garden and drank to a good night's work. After a warning from the "Colonel" to keep their mouths shut or "you'll get what Poole got", all scattered to their homes. The Black Legion Comes to Light Ten days later, on May 22, 1936, the -world was startled by as weir d and horrible a story as was ever to ld. The Poole murder was only the latest outrage in a three-year trail of crimes by a secret organization of night riders ca lled the Black Legion. They wore black robes and hoods adorned with a skull and cross-bones. From the bits of information that were squeezed out of the first sixteen arrested for the murder of Poole it was learned that the Black Legion was not just an "ordinary" organization of night riders. It seemed to incorporate all the features of the Ku Klux Klan-it was against Communists, Negroes, Catholics, Jews, and foreign-born, it was organized on a mi litary plan, was active in industrial regions and had friends in high political places. Murder and crime riddles left unsolved for years were re called. Captain Ira H. Marmon, of the Michigan State Police, expressed his conviction that at least fifty unexplained "suicides" in the state were the work of this Black Legion. Floggings, mur der, assassination plots, bombings of labor institutions, burning of homes and workers' camps, and faked leaflets designed to discredit labor were referred for reinvestigation. Soon there were enough evidence and confessions to place these acts definitely at the door of the Black Legion. At this writing, though police have 'not taken very .diligently to trailing all clues, more than 60 members of the terror organiza Lion have been arrested, charged with a part in the crimes. At last was discovered the secret organization which for over three years had menaced the people of Michigan, Ohio, and other parts. - - . II. THE HOOD IS LIFTED The form "and program of the Black Legion and its caliber are vividly illustrated in the fearful initiation rites that its applicants must go through. The oath that is administered supposedly incor porates secrets of the organization. Secrecy must be kept on pain of death by the Legion's "execution squad". The scene is a dark woods or an unlighted basement. The appli cants are brought in by their respective sponsors and led inside a circle of black-robed night riders. They kneel as a pistol is pressed against the ribs; another is aimed at the heart. Then the officer in charge administers the oath, of which the following are parts: "In the' name of God and the devil, one to re ward, the other to punish, and by the powers of light and darkness, good and evil, here under the bla ck arch of heaven's avenging symbol I pledg e and consecrate my heart, my brain, my bod y and my limbs and swear by all the powers of heaven and hell to devote my life to the obedience of my superiors and that no danger or peril shall deter me from executing th eir orders. "I will exert every possibl e means in my power for the extermina tion of the anarchi sts, Communists, th e Roman hierarchy and th eir ab ettors. "I further pledge my heart, my brain, my bod y and Illy limbs never to betray a comra de and that I will submit to all the tortures that mankind can inflict and suffer the most horrible death rather than reveal a single word of thi s, my oath. "Before violating a single clause or implied pledge of thi s, my obligation, I will pray to an aveng ing God and to an unmerciful devil to tear my heart out and roast it over flames of sulphur. "That my head be split open and my brains be scattered over th e earth, that Illy body be ripped up, my bowels be torn out and fed to the carrion birds. "That each of my limbs be broken with stones and th en cut off by in ches that the y may be food for th e foulest birds of air. " And lastly may Illy soul be given unto torment; that my body be submerg ed into molten metal and stifled in the flames of hell. and that this punishment may be meted out to me through all etern ity in th e name of God our creator. Amen." Then follow the secrets : 5 The Black Legion's Secrets "The organization is one of chivalry and daring. It follows on the footsteps of the guerrilla bands of the South which were famed by their courage and bravery by their enemies whom they considered as outlaws. You have signified your willingness to join the organi zation. "You are outlawed indeed. We have no charter, and no initiation fees were asked of you when you came here. If we were chartered under the laws of our state government our roster would have been available at all times. "This organization was founded on Southern chivalry and is obligated to the preservation of the white race. The native-born white people of America are menaced on every side from above and below. "If America is in the melting pot the white people are neither the aristocratic scum on top nor the dregs of society on the bottom which is composed of anarchists and Communists and all cults and creeds believing in social equality. "Our ancestors won this land from the savages and paid for it with their blood. At the present neither of the two greater political parties stand for the laws and principles that the founders of this country intended us to enjoy. "The Republicans stand for the rich while the Democrats seem to be in the grasp of the Pope of Rome. "We fight as guerrillas, using any weapon that comes to our hand, preferably the ballot. .".We regard as enemies of ourselves and our country all alieris, Negroes, Jews and cults and creeds believing in racial equality and owing allegiance to any foreign potentate." After this follows a series of questions to the applicant: Arms and Lynch Law "Will you put this organization above any to which you now be long, have belonged or ever hope to? "Would you be willing to forget your party and vote for the best man regardless of what party he belongs to if ordered to do so by your superior officers in this organization? "Are you willing to take orders and go to your death if necessary to carry them out? "Do you believe in white supremacy and that no Negro should have authority over a white man? " Do you believe in intermarriage between races? "Do you believe in restricted immigration and deportation of all undesirable aliens? "Would you oppose by ballot and if necessary by force of arms 6 any attempt to place any portion of the public tax money in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church? "Will you do all in your power to place only white Protestant Americans in public office? "If it ever should become necessary to lie to protect a member of this organization, would you do so if ordered by your superior officers? "After a term in office of this organization you may be required to perform some service on a higher plane than ordinary routine night riding.

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